HALONG BAY FROM THE SKY

Scenic view of the bay

I am just privileged to work in this destination offering me a chance to see Halong Bay from the sky. Cloud surfing I was on board Hai Au Aviation.

"FLYING" is not my cup of tea

Sleep deprived? Oh well, I am now, so I might as well hit the keyboards and write down my thoughts.  It’s past midnight and I am still wide awake.  Why? Because I hate flying and I am going to fly again in few hours.  I can’t help it I am addicted to my job, so I am obliged to fly.

Taking care of hotel’s performance was not in my career’s dream lists but I landed in this job. I find it challenging, so I am loving it now. However, the hotels I am overseeing are located from north to south, so I have to fly every now and then.  

I have few pilot friends that educated me on how the aircraft performs while flying but my brain still uneasy about it.  If only Mr. Clouds is around it might help. I used to imagine him on the yoke actually. I was crazy over him, so just chatting with him before I get on the plane gave me enough courage to set aside my fear. 

And guess what? To think, all he did was to scare me until I felt like throwing up already.  When I told him that I felt like throwing up with his jokes on planes, he would just say “oh really?”  But beckon me to get a shot of whisky before boarding which I find sweet.

Anyway, he is always been in my blog recently, so I think I will share his background why I call him Mr. Clouds.  Aren’t you curious?  He is a pilot J, hence I call him Mr. Clouds.  He is sweet but emotionally unavailable, so there’s “no we”. Life however moves on.  Who knows I can find someone like him in my journey? Maybe when I get on the plane in few hours the person who will sit next to me might have Mr. Clouds personality? Ohhhh that would be one in a lifetime chance for me to fall in love, other than my job of course!

Oh well,  sorry folks, I just got reminded of him. You can’t blame me if I talked about him, we shared nothing but happy moments and he was always there for me. So, maybe I will just think he will be there with me on the yoke in few hours? 

In the Clouds over Coconut Coffee Smoothie

Ever thought of being in the clouds over the combination of coconut, coffee and an awesome friend?

It was a hot day and I was walking in the streets of Saigon.  I thought I needed cold drinks, so I get inside to the first random decent coffee shop I saw.  

Coconut Coffee Smoothie with Mr. Clouds
in Hanoi's expat area Tay Ho.  

I said decent because there are thousands of café in Saigon but only few that I can hang around comfortably.  And by saying comfortably, it means spacious, not a lot of people smoking, neat and clean.

I was browsing the menu and my eyes grow big, smiling as I uttered under my breath “ohhh I know where I am, Cong Caphe”!!

I knew where I was, not because I read the name of the establishment in the cover of the menu but because I saw Coconut Coffee Smoothie in the list.

I can’t of course forget Coconut Coffee Smoothie! Nice and refreshing drink plus it brings me happy memories. Oh well, it reminded me of my last encounter with Mr. Clouds actually.

Here’s our story of Coconut Coffee Smoothie.  Few times, Mr. Clouds asked me whether I tried the Coconut Coffee Smoothie of Cong Caphe.  

It's in Saigon, so there's no Vietnamese Flag
on my Coconut Coffee Smoothie.  

I haven’t, so I didn’t really pay attention when I answered "no".  I don’t actually fancy digging up information or providing information to Mr. Clouds.

Re: example why would I talk more about Coconut Coffee Smoothie when I don’t know if I can visit the same establishment he tried it with? It’s the same with other personal information.  I avoid asking even though Mr. Clouds mentioned something that I could ask. 

 For me, it’s going nowhere as there’s “no we”, so why ask? I don’t want to destroy the moment of happiness I was experiencing, so the less I know the better.  That’s my philosophy.   

But I was wrong with Coconut Coffee Smoothie though. WE had five glasses of them before we parted and to think, I thought I couldn’t try it with him!  He brought me to Cong Caphe for our last hours together.  Of course, to introduce the Coconut Coffee Smoothie he bragged about few times and geographic convenience when we were choosing common ground to say our last goodbyes. 

    

Cong Caphe in Saigon's busy streets Bui Vien 

After he left, I never skipped visiting Cong Caphe for Coconut Coffee Smoothie every time I am in Hanoi. It’s heaven for me now.  Heaven, not because it was introduced by Mr. Clouds but the combination of Coffee and Coconut are refreshing. 

Iced coffee in Vietnam is quite strong but if you are like me, who can have palpitation with strong coffee, then Coconut Coffee Smoothie is just perfect.

I was told only Cong Caphe offers Coconut Coffee Smoothie, that’s why I said I knew where I was when I saw it in the menu.  I would never get to know of Coconut Coffee Smoothie had it not been for my last three hours with Mr. Clouds at Cong Caphe.  

The last three hours were heaven despite that it was a sweet goodbye without knowing if our paths will cross again.  Why I said heaven? Why not? I was with Mr. Clouds who was a plus factor while drinking my Coconut Coffee Smoothie. :-) 

“Live out of a suitcase”

Suites, beachfront deluxe room, garden view premium room or standard room has now become my regular bedroom.  

The busier the resort is the more I stayed in suites or the expensive categories of rooms.

 I am a hotelier and I am in-house when I am onsite, what can I do?  The regular category of rooms can get filled in fast, so I have to move to whatever guest room is available. 

Oftentimes though, I don’t have a choice but to sleep in one bedroom suites.  Fancy, isn’t it?  Oh well you’ll be jealous, it’s free. J But don’t get excited because it comes with responsibilities of my job, handling hotel and resort operations.  It sounded fancy but really I don’t feel it that way unless perhaps I am on holiday and just staying in nice rooms on leisure.  But it’s not.

The consequence is that I have to live out of a suitcase. I never unpacked because I know I will be changing rooms anytime the occupancy forecast turns high.

I have one small luggage for my clothes and one small luggage for shoes and other stuff. I just take out the clothes I will wear for the day and let the housekeeping iron it.  

The rest of the stuff stays in my luggage. So there goes that part of me who live out of a suitcase.

A walk to Yen Tu Mountain

Summer for Halong Bay destination is quite crazy with domestic travelers.
Running a resort is like being in prison at this time of year.
Straight two weeks I haven’t seen my apartment in Hanoi.
At 7am I was already on the floor and it went on until late night.
So, when I get the chance to breath away from work,  I visited Yen Tu Pagoda with Lapaz Resort Filipino singers.

Yen Tu is an hour drive from Halong Bay. 

Inspired by King Tran Nhan Tong, who reigned from 1279 to 1293, the temple is located on top of the mountain which has an altitude of 1,068 meters.  

From the parking area we were taken off by 8-seater golf car that we paid a dollar per person and delivered to the foot of the mountain.       

The climb to the first stop, Giai Oan Pagoda was easy.  Nhan Tong accordingly held ritual for wandering souls of the maids and imperial concubines who drowned in Ho Khe stream in Giai Oan Pagoda. 

On our way up to the next stop, we saw canes on display for sale. I told my companions we will go with the trend, buy canes because it might be needed.  

Indeed, I was correct the cane saved our knees from falling down on the rocks. 

It was a challenging climb when we get nearer. The piled rocks were getting stiff. We were soaked even though it never rained. It wasn’t hot either because we were walking in the jungle. The cable car didn’t work, so there's no support system, we have to walk all the way up.  

At the Pagoda before reaching the summit the monks were giving lectures and followers can even stay overnight to pray with them.

I was told during Vietnamese New Year or the so called Tet Season in Vietnam thousands of followers were hanging around the Pagoda with the monks.

Visiting the place took the stress out of me. Maybe because of the challenging long climb or perhaps the interesting history of the temples built in Yen Tu that captured my attention and interest the entire climb. 

If you do climb Yen Tu, the most popular feature of the mountain is the rocky outcrop called An Ky Sinh or known as Heaven’s Gate. It is built at the summit with two meters tall. Go for it, it's worth the climb. 

THINGS I APPRECIATE BEING SINGLE

Are you in the primetime of your life and still single?  Welcome to the club then!

I know it’s not easy to be single when we are getting older especially with the likes of me who is picky. 

Oh well, I have a good life and I am having fun.  If I let someone in, it must have that “awesome” feeling.  Sparks, chemistry, excitement and thrills should be there.

In over two years that I’ve been single, I found only one that qualifies in that category, aka Mr. Clouds. However, for some reasons we are not meant to be together.   

But that doesn’t mean I will be miserable being single.  Having said that, I’ll share to you things I appreciate being single.

1.     I CAN DO THINGS I USED TO DO: 

A simple example is the type of music I listen. With a partner around the house I have to adjust. But now that I am single from pop music to rock I can tune up the volume as loud as I want and dance while cleaning my room without someone telling me to be sensitive.   Or during my day off, I don’t have to wake up before lunch to prepare food. I can sleep the whole day until I get hungry and no pressure of getting dressed. I can just put my shorts and shirt on, go down to any restaurant, eat and go back to sleep, nobody bothers me.

2.       I CAN SOCIALIZE SPONTANEOUSLY WITH FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES:

After work, I can call friends or colleagues without making prior schedule and go out with them. With a partner, if my colleagues asked me out, I often say no because I have to consider the other person.  Maybe the invitation was just for me or if he was invited, I don’t want him to feel awkward that he can’t understand our terminologies at work.

3.       I CAN BE VOCAL IN COMPLIMENTING OTHER PEOPLE

I am a very friendly person. As sassy as I am, I love to throw compliments to people. Imagine how my partner would feel if I tell someone sitting next to me in the pub he has cute eyes. It would be a long story that will end up in argument I am sure.  But being single gives me a license to just compliment everyone whatever nice things I saw. In Hoi An Old Quarter once, a traveler approached me to ask an address written in a piece of paper and after guiding him, with a sweet smile I said, “nice shoes by the way”.  It was very obvious that the shoes were made in Hoi An, so I just throw a bait actually.  He took the bait.  He looked at me with a smile, chatted a little bit about it then he threw an invitation for coffee. I can’t do that if I am with someone, can I?  It’s a nice feeling. The art of compliments which has a power to attract people.

4.     

      I  CAN BE LUXURIOUS  WITH  MY TIME TO WORK OUT

I can hang around in the gym until it closes without thinking someone is waiting for me.  I don’t have to skip Zumba just because I need to catch up.  So being single means no more painful criticism for being late.

5.       

          RECONNECT LOVING MYSELF, DATING MYSELF 

Now I have the so called “me time”.  I can date myself and enjoy whatever I wanted to do.   I can go out on a day trip by myself and I have the time to understand myself better. It makes being single more fun. A relationship is only as good as you invest, correct?  Now that I am single I invested my time to myself, so I am having good relationship with myself.  Here’s an example of having relationship with myself. I fall for aka Mr. Clouds but there’s no nasty pain when he left.  When he waved goodbye at the airport there was tightness in my throat. But I told myself, “oh. I still have myself”. Life moves on and I remember him in a good way. See how loving yourself helps in situation like that?  

These are just 5 out of the many things I can appreciate being single.

Trust me,  I had my share of long term relationship with a man and it’s easier to get destroyed in the absence of kids.  Simple arguments coupled with blaming each other if not resolve in a compromise manner, the word separation will never stop tagging along.  

Anyway, If you cannot prevent the word separation or divorce then you might as well practice living how to be single.    

Random Thoughts

Chocolates anyone?  I am having one now, so I thought I’ll be nice and invite you.

Anyway, I am in the mood to write my thoughts that’s why I’m being generous of posting my “trashes” here.  

This blog is my outlet when I am happy, sad, angry, crazy, emotional, has visited a destination on leisure or just being me.

It’s my blog, so I can talk rubbish and you don’t have to be nice to read it unless of course you are interested to know the “garbage” story of my life’s journey.

 

Curious what’s my trash story today?  

At work, I have what I called “fake days” and today was one of those. 

Big percentage of those fake days consists of handover days.  Why? It’s because I have to say “thank you” for the support and compliment the team I was working with even though it’s not how I feel or I don’t feel what I say.  

I have to leave, so I can’t utter a word of criticism.  Although sometimes I wanted to shout “I am glad I am out here! I can’t stand the way your mind works!” Oh, I love to say that sometimes.  

But this is a corporate world I have to be nice otherwise I can’t win respect, that’s why I called it “fake days.” 

                                               

Fake because I showed concerned when some people were worried. Fake because I joined in the sadness when some people expressed unhappiness just because they can’t see me every day anymore. 

Fake because I cheered with those who were happy that I won’t be bitching at them anymore.   Fake because I know it’s not how I feel. 

It’s not what I wanted to do.  You might be saying I am too hypocrite to say this but trust me I did several handovers already that I can’t feel anything anymore. 

Sometimes I even felt like throwing up thinking about the fake statements I have to say.  You can’t blame me my movement is quite fast that  hardened my feelings. It’s just work and I don’t put emotions to it.

For you to understand why I kept moving around, my boss has expanded the scope of his business and my role is to represent him, so it’s highly mobile. Wherever there is pre-opening, taking over slow performing assets, and risk management, I will be there. The shortest is one month where I have to cover when there’s no appointed leader yet.  I don’t have idea why I landed into this job when it’s not in my dream lists.  

But I am thankful for the opportunity anyway, except that it’s not easy with all the stress that goes with it.

The fact as well that it’s highly mobile also I can’t be consistent in building friendship.  Women friends, yeah loads but I can’t hardly had enough time chatting about shoes or dresses with them. Men friends, yeah many but oftentimes I can only go out for a chat once. The rest, I don’t have idea what went wrong why there’s no interest to see them again.  Some landed in my FB friends lists though.   

I can only remember one person that I was consistent with. It was with Mr. Clouds when I know he won’t stay long. 

Perhaps because we have common denominator, Halong and Hanoi?.  Or maybe because of the catch and play game? Oh well, Mr. Clouds, whatever it was, your charm worked well with me. 

 

Too flattering you looked for me after almost two years. But like a soap bubble, one touch you’re gone leaving behind the Hanoi playlists we both listened. Oh, so nice to remember your memories while listening to Bieber’s remix Despacito and Clean bandit’s Rockabye.   It lightened my day and made me smile.  

I remember the last words over coconut coffee smoothie, “see you when I see you” and I was tempted to answer “not when I see you first!” J           

Oh well, there’s my rubbish story. Putting my thoughts in writing, so when Alzheimer’s disease hit me one day I have something to read.